Pet owners in the Pflugerville area can rest a little easier as a new chain of animal urgent care centers, VCA Animal Hospital Urgent Care, recently celebrated the opening of its latest location near Wells Branch and I-35 with a ribbon-cutting event April 2.

The impact

“We found a need for urgent care in the market. ... We found that a lot of doctors have left the industry,” Regional Operations Director Stephanie Smith said. “Now there's a shortage. What that equals is that now we have [animals] in shelters not getting care, and we have shelters having to euthanize pets because there's no doctors to see them.”

Smith explained that the VCA Urgent Care Animal Hospital serves as an intermediary between emergency care and routine checkups. This facility provides relief for general veterinary practitioners in the area and helps reduce the influx of cases requiring costly emergency room visits.

VCA Urgent Care Animal Hospital is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., providing care for both dogs and cats. The company has opened locations in Cedar Park, as well as North and South Austin within the last year.


Pet owners are able to join the wait room virtually before arriving on-site, or chat with the medical team through their website.